HISTORY  AND  STATUS 

OF 

Public  School  Science  Work 

IN  ILLINOIS. 


A  PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRESS. 


By  S.  A.  FORBES, 

Professor  of  Zoology,  University  of  Illinois. 


l  »at*grapn  Pig.  6t  riUvy.  Co.,  Bloomington, 


■*11 


HISTORY  RflD  STATUS 

OF  ' 

Public  Sehool  Science  Work 

iH  miii^ois. 


BY  S.  A.  FORBES,  PROFESSOR  OF  ZOOLOGY,  UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

[Read  before  the  Science  Section  of  the  Illinois  State  Teachers’  Association 
at  Springfield,  December  27,  1889.] 


It  is  the  purpose  of  this  Society,  as  I  understand  it,  to  system¬ 
atically  investigate,  discuss,  and  formulate  methods  of  instruction 
in  natural  science,  with  a  view  to  working  out  a  body  of  sound 
doctrine  and  rational  method,  in  respect  to  which  we  shall,  if  possi¬ 
ble,  become  substantially  agreed.  These  doctrines  and  methods  we 
shall  then  hope  to  bring  to  bear  on  the  public  school  work  of  Illi¬ 
nois,  to  the  end  that  the  science  work  here  may  be  done,  in  time,  on 
rational  principles  well  understood,  and  by  methods  approved  by 
general  experience.  It  is  a  work  of  progress  and  reform  to  which 
we  have  pledged  ourselves;  progress  in  the  knowledge  of  principles 
and  in  the  method  of  applying  them,  and  reform  in  the  science 
work  in  the  public  schools  under  our  charge  or  immediate  influence, 
and  ultimately,  as  we  hope,  in  those  of  the  state  at  large. 

First  of  all,  it  seems  to  me,  we  need  to  clear  up  our  own  ideas 
and  to  see  where  we  stand;  to  realize  and  recognize  what  we  have 
to  do,  first  for  ourselves  and  second  for  the  state.  Your  committee 
has  believed  that  we  should  begin  by  laying  foundations,  and  has 
hoped  that  the  work  of  successive  sessions  of  this  Club  would  have 
more  than  a  loose  and  general  connection;  that  it  would  be  closely 

:p  od.681. 


CO 


articulated  and  regularly  and  solidly  built  up,  year  after  year,  jointly, 
by  us  all,  according  to  a  plan  pre-arranged. 

In  beginning  a  work  we  may  very  naturally  ask  ourselves,  first, 
what  has  been  done;  and,  second,  what  is  next  to  do, — the  answer 
to  the  second  question  dependent  on  that  to  the  first, — and  I  have 
taken  it  for  my  part  in  the  present  program  to  prepare  a  brief  out¬ 
line  of  the  condition  of  the  science  work  in  public  schools  at  the 
present  time;  to  explain  and  describe,  as  well  as  I  can  and  as  far  as  I 
understand  the  matter,  the  basis  upon  which  it  actually  rests,  and  the 
forces  which  have  built  it  up  and  hold  it  in  position,  and  to  sketch 
the  history  of  its  development.  I  very  much  wish  that  this  task 
might  be  performed  in  a  thorough-going  and  exhaustive  manner,  and 
I  hope  that  this  may  yet  be  done  by  some  one;  but  in  the  time  allow¬ 
able  here  for  such  a  discussion  I  can  only  undertake  to  pick  out  a 
few  items  from  the  record,  and  to  present  them,  if  possible,  in  a 
way  to  make  them  available  for  our  guidance. 

The  history  of  public  school  science  work  in  this  state  is  re¬ 
markable  for  one  prominent  and  critical  occurrence, — the  sudden 
introduction  by  law,  in  1872,  of  four  new  sciences  into  the  list  re¬ 
quired  for  a  county  teacher’s  certificate.  Although  this  legal  en¬ 
largement  of  the  public  school  course  seems  at  first  blush  unwisely 
and  even  absurdly  abrupt,  and  although  it  was  unquestionably 
followed  by  many  unfortunate  and  well  nigh  disastrous  immediate 
consequences,  yet  a  study  of  the  situation  at  the  time,  and  of  the 
previous  history  of  the  agitation  of  the  subject  and  of  the  progress 
of  science  teaching  in  the  state,  will  show  that  it  was  not  as  sudden 
and  revolutionary  a  procedure  as  might  be  supposed.  Many  incite¬ 
ments  to  progress  in  this  direction  had  long  been  at  work  in  the 
public  schools.  A  leaven  of  intelligence  and  awakening  ambition 
had  made  itself  felt  for  many  years  and  in  many  ways, — through 
the  reports  and  action  of  the  State  Superintendent  of  Public  In¬ 
struction;  through  the  State  Normal  School,  opened  in  1857;  through 
the  operations  of  the  State  Natural  History  Society,  organized  in 
1858,  and  including  many  teachers  in  its  active  membership;  through 
the  young  Industrial  School,  now-  the  University  of  Illinois,  estab¬ 
lished  in  1867;  and,  long  before  that  (in  1850  to  1854),  through  the 
remarkable  educational  campaign  which  gave  origin  to  the  Univer¬ 
sity;  through  the  more  progressive  teachers  themselves — a  few  of 
whom,  in  city  and  village  schools,  were  doing  science  work  which  it 
would  be  difficult  to  parallel  for  scope  and  thoroughness  at  the 


(3) 


present  time;  through  papers  and  discussions  in  the  meetings  of  the 
State  Teachers’  Association  and  the  State  Associations  of  Principals 
and  County  Superintendents;  and  through  the  educational  period¬ 
icals  of  the  day. 

The  first  State  Superintendent,  Ninian  W.  Edwards,  had  de¬ 
clared,  in  1854,  in  his  first  report,  that  the  teachers  of  the  state  should 
have  a  “  practical  education,  in  which  should  be  included  not  only 
what  is  commonly  embraced  in  the  common  school  course,  but  a 
practical  knowledge  of  the  sciences  in  their  application  to  the  ordi¬ 
nary  pursuits  of  life.” 

Dr.  Baieman,  in  his  first  report,  the  third  of  the  office,  had  said, 
in  i85o/“The  senses  are  the  pioneers  of  all  knowledge.  The  dawn 
and  activity  of  the  perceptive  powers  are  always  antecedent  to  those  I 
of  the  reflective.  The  eye  is  the  child’s  first  teacher;  the  ear  its 
next;  and  for  several  years  the  chief  work  of  education  is  to  culti¬ 
vate  these  organs.**  a^rta*  v<Tt  is  the  facts  of  the  outer  or 

material  world,  with  which  we  must  first  deal,  and  the  formation  of 
habits  of  close  and  accurate  observation  is  the  great  work  of  the 
elementary  teacher.'**  i8^4,  be h e d  th e  te a c he rs  e-P'th e 
state-t©  "Keep  the  schools  in  close  and  living  contact  with  the  ob¬ 
jective,  the  real;  with  nature  and  men  and  things;  with  the  whole 
outer  world  and  its  moving  panorama  of  events,  as  the  theatre  on 
which  the  pupils  are  to  live  and  move  and  act  ”J  In  his  first  an¬ 
nouncement  of  requirements  for  the  state  certificate,  made  in  186 r, 
while  omitting  the  natural  sciences  from  the  list  of  branches  neces¬ 
sary  for  the  diploma,  he  commended  especially  vegetable  and 
animal  physiology,  physics,  chemistry,  and  geology,  as  subjects  with 
which  the  professional  teacher  should  by  all  means  have  some  ac¬ 
quaintance, — without  which  he  must  suffer  great  loss  of  power.  In 
1868  he  foreshadowed  the  general  introduction  of  the  sciences,  and 
directly  paved  the  way  for  it,  by  making  the  state  certificate  condi¬ 
tional  upon  a  satisfactory  knowledge  of  physiology,  botany,  zoology, 
and  chemistry.  The  new  law  of  1872  merely  extended  to  the 
county  examination  the  condition  which  had  thus  been  for  four 
years  applied  to  that  for  the  state  certificate,  except  that  physics 
was  substituted  for  chemistry.  ✓ 

So  far,  then,  as  the  State  Superintendency  is  concerned,  the  devel¬ 
opment  of  the  public  school  course  towards  a  knowledge  of  nature 
and  a  preparation  for  science  teaching,  was  a  gradual  and  methodical 
one,  proceeding  by  slow  steps  to  an  end  held  long  and  steadily  in  view, 


(4) 


Nor  was  the  share  of  the  first  State  Normal  School  in  this  work 
of  progress  an  insignificant  or  indifferent  one.  Organized  in  1857 
under  a  law  placing  the  elements  of  the  natural  sciences  on  the 
same  footing  as  the  other  studies  of  its  course,  it  had  contributed 
its  powerful  influence,  directly  and  indireetly,  for  fifteen  years,  to 
the  education  of  the  teaching  body  towards  this  end.  By  i860, 
physiology,  chemistry,  botany,  and  geology  were  taught, — in  a 
somewhat  tentative  way,  it  is  true,  and  each  but  a  term,  while 
mathematics  got  five  terms,  geography  three,  and  vocal  music  nine, 
— but  the  attempt  was  clearly  regarded  as  an  experiment.  Says 
Principal  Hovey,  “We  have  very  few  models  in  this  department. 
Little  is  known  of  the  possibility  of  so  simplifying  chemistry,  for  ex¬ 
ample,  as  to  bring  it  within  the  reach  of  children. 

The  attempt,  however,  will  be  honestly  made,  at  least  so  far  as  to 
put  our  pupil  teachers  in  possession  of  the  leading  facts  of  these 
sciences,  and  the  method  of  teaching  the  facts  to  children  which 
seems  to  have  the  largest  promise  of  success.  The  importance  of 
the  subjects  would  fully  justify  this  course,  even  if  it  were  not  com¬ 
manded  by  law.”  The  details  of  the  courses  published  show  that 
the  methods  were  not  those  of  the  modern  science  teacher, — a  criti¬ 
cism  applicable  for  some  time  thereafter.  Botany  was  chiefly  a 
study  of  text  and  the  analysis  of  plants;  the  chemistry  was  ap¬ 
parently  poured  over  the  heads  of  the  pupils  like  a  shower  bath, 
and  there  was  no  students’  laboratory  for  many  years;  the  physi¬ 
ology  was  demonstrated  to  the  imagination  only;  and  the  physics 
was  taught  as  a  department  of  mathematics,  by  deduction  from  first 
principles,  with  a  sovereign  contempt  for  apparatus  and  experiment, 
not  merely  implied  but  vigorously  expressed.  Zoology  was  not  reg¬ 
ularly  introduced  until  after  1872.  Graduation  theses  were  required 
•in  1869  on  some  natural  history  subject  worked  out  independently 
by  the  student. 

To  this  special  work  of  the  Normal  School  the  State  Natural 
History  Society  largely  contributed, — organized  as  it  was  only  a 
year  later,  and  having  its  museum  in  the  Normal  building.  There 
Wilber  and  Holder  and  Powell  and  Thompson  and  Vasey  worked, 
and  created  a  little  center  of  scientific  activity,  the  spark  of  whose 
life  has  never  yet  gone  out  in  Illinois.  This  body  of  amateurs,  as  it 
was  at  first,  and  this  institution,  as  their  museum  later  became,  stood 
from  the  beginning  in  close  relation  to  the  schools.  All  the  Normal 
men  were  members  of  the  Society;  Prof.  Turner,  of  Jacksonville, 


(s) 


was  one  of  its  leaders;  the  State  Teachers’  Association  met  with  it  at 
Normal  in  1861,  in  a  joint  session  for  the  dedication  of  its  hall,  and 
many  of  the  teachers  belonged  to  both  organizations;  it  had  for  its 
principal  object  a  natural  history  survey  of  the  state,  the  publications 
of  which  it  was  hoped  would  furnish  a  suitable  foundation  for  science 
work  in  the  schools;  it  regularly  assumed,  as  early  as  1868,  the  duty 
of  supplying  natural  history  materials  to  schools  prepared  to  use 
them;  it  brought  the  official  geologist  and  entomologist  of  the  state, 
and  other  scientific  workers,  into  more  or  less  familiar  association 
with  the  public  school  teachers;  and  it  helped  especially  to  interest 
the  outside  public  in  natural  history  study  and  instruction. 

And  next  we  come  to  the  state — college,  as  I  wish  we  might  call 
it, — the  Industrial  University,  as  it  was  called  at  first.  It  was  late 
in  the  field,  but  was  compelled  by  the  necessities  of  its  existence  to  a 
vigorous  activity  in  this  direction.  Organized  especially  to  give  in¬ 
struction  in  the  sciences  and  arts  which  underlie  modern  industrial 
life,  it  was  evident  at  once  that  its  attendance  must  depend  largely 
on  the  general  appreciation  of  a  knowledge  of  science  as  a  prepa¬ 
ration  for  agriculture  and  the  trades,  and  that  the  grade  of  its  work 
depended  immediately  upon  the  previous  instruction  in  the  ele¬ 
ments  of  science  which  its  matriculates  had  received.  Since  it  was, 
from  the  nature  of  the  case,  directly  affiliated  with  the  public 
schools,  if  there  were  no  science  in  them  there  could  none  be  re¬ 
quired  for  its  own  entrance  examinations,  and  it  must  itself  do  at 
first  the  work  of  an  elementary  school.  Hence  its  regent  and  its 
trustees  were  earnestly  active  in  this  matter,  and  to  its  influence, 
I  think,  far  more  than  to  any  other  one  thing,  the  final  form  of 
the  law  of  1872  was  due.  The  science  clause  of  this  law  was,  in 
fact,  introduced  as  an  amendment  by  one  of  the  University  trustees, 
Wilson  Flagg,  of  Madison  county  (a  graduate  of  Yale,  an  amateur 
botanist,  a  horticulturist,  and  an  ex-member  of  the  State  Board  of 
Agriculture),  the  chairman  of  the  senate  committee  on  education  at 
the  time.  But  more  important  perhaps  than  this,  the  University 
had,  most  of  all  and  earliest  of  all,  exercised  what  we  may  call  a 
powerful  prenatal  influence  in  this  matter;  since  the  extraordinary 
campaign  for  an  educational  idea  which  began  with  a  convention  of 
farmers  under  Prof.  Turner’s  inspiration  in  Putnam  county  in  1851, 
and  ended  at  Washington  in  the  passage  of  the  land  grant  act  of 
1862, — since  this  agitation  for  the  education  of  the  mass  of  the 
people  towards  and  not  away  from  their  future  callings,  carried  al- 


(6) 


ways  in  its  bosom,  if  not  in  its  arms,  the  logical  consequence  that 
such  an  education  must  be  had  in  the  public  schools  as  well  as  in 
the  university,  if  it  is  to  affect  the  welfare  of  the  many  and  not  only 
of  the  few.  And  this,  I  have  come  to  think,  as  I  have  studied  the 
record  of  the  time,  was  clearly  the  main  line  of  the  movement  which 
resulted  in  our  legal  enactment.  The  State  Superintendents’  reports, 
the  State  Normal  School,  the  State  Natural  History  Society,  and 
the  other  things  to  be  mentioned,  were  more  or  less  powerful  sec¬ 
ondary  aids;  but  the  main  result  followed  directly  from  the  in¬ 
dustrial  agitation  of  the  fifties.  That  reaching  upward  of  the 
masses  for  more  power  and  more  light,  which,  spreading  from  Illi¬ 
nois  eastward,  gave  us  later  the  long  line  of  land-grant  colleges,  and 
gives  us  now  the  State  Experiment  Stations,  gave  us  also,  as  a  sort 
of  second  growth  from  the  seed  first  sown,  the  recognized  accept¬ 
ance  of  the  natural  sciences  as  a  necessary  part  of  the  course  of 
study  in  a  true  people’s  school.  That  this  fruitful  movement  arose 
earlier  and  went  further  here  than  elsewhere,  I  attribute  to  th e  fact 
that  it  had  here  an  able  and  devoted  leader,  who,  himself  an  edu¬ 
cated  man,  had  those  great  human  qualities  which  no  learning  can 
overlay,  and  which  gave  him  access  to  all  classes  and  power  with  all. 
The  teacher  who,  knowing  the  history  of  the  state,  does  not  to  day 
honor  Jonathan  Baldwin  Turner  as  a  patriot  and  a  public  bene¬ 
factor,  does  dishonor  to  himself. 

Of  course  I  need  not  say  that  the  schools  and  teachers,  espe¬ 
cially  the  better  ones,  shared  in  this  steady  growth  and  felt  the  stimu¬ 
lus  of  the  light  and  inspiration  centered  upon  them  from  so  many 
sources.  Beginning  in  185  r,  we  find  a  superintendent  of  Stark 
county  saying  hopelessly  that,  desirable  as  it  is,  he  sees  little  pros¬ 
pect  of  a  study  of  science  in  his  schools,  and,  indeed,  that  some  of 
his  people  still  object  to  geography,  even;  as  contrary  to  the  Bible, 
because  it  teaches  that  the  world  is  round  instead  of  having  four 
corners;  but  in  1872,  Principal  Roberts,  of  Galesburg,  says  in  his 
presidential  address  to  the  State  Teachers’  Association,  that  prob¬ 
ably  all  the  teachers  really  fitted  to  teach  the  sciences  were  actually 
teaching  them  when  the  new  law  went  into  effect. 

Chicago  has  always  gone  her  own  way  in  these  matters,  within  the 
state  but  not  of  it,  and  has  to-day  no  natural  science  in  her  grammar 
schools,  as  I  learned  lately  in  response  to  a  circular  request  for  in¬ 
formation.  In  her  high  schools,  however,  these  subjects  have  had 
a  place  from  the  beginning,  apparatus  for  chemistry  and  for  physics 


(7) 


being  supplied  in  1856  as  a  part  of  the  original  equipment  of  her  first 
high  school.  Indeed,  in  1869  the  general  introduction  of  natural 
history  throughout  the  schools  was  advocated  at  some  length  by  the 
president  of  the  city  board,  and  the  examinations  required  for  ad¬ 
mission  to  the  high  school  at  that  time  show  that  candidates  had 
received  some  general  instruction  in  the  sciences  of  nature, — appar¬ 
ently  the  object  lessons  of  that  day. 

The  Cook  County  Normal,  opening  in  1867  with  a  two  years* 
course,  gave  object  lessons  for  four  terms  and  taught  botany  for 
one  and  physics  for  two.  In  the  Peoria  County  Normal  School, 
botany  and  physiology  were  taught  in  1872,  under  Principal  White. 
In  the  Aurora  schools,  Principal  Jones  had  introduced  in  1868  ah 
elaborate  course  in  natural  science,  beginning  with  the  first  year  of 
the  primary,  and  running  through  the  high  school.  In  the  primary, 
lessons  were  given  on  the  human  body  and  on  animals  and  plants; 
in  the  intermediate,  on  the  human  body  and  the  laws  of  health  and 
in  mineralogy  and  botany,  the  last  studied  with  specimens  in  the 
pupils’  hands.  In  the  high  school,  more  advanced  and  systematic 
work  was  done  in  botany,  zoology,  physiology,  and  physics.  The 
work  of  this  school  was  elaborately  described  by  Dr.  Bateman  in  his 
report  for  1868,  under  the  title  of  “a  model  graded  school.”  In  the 
Carrollton  high  school,  botany  and  physiology  were  taught  in  1870 
in  the  first  year’s  course,  and  chemistry  and  physics  in  the  second. 
In  1871  Etheridge  published,  as  Superintendent  of  Bureau  county^] 
a  graded  course  for  his  rural  schools,  in  which  object  lessons  ran 
through  all  the  grades  from  the  second  to  the  sixth,  and  included 
something  of  anatomy  and  physiology,  the  zoology  of  the  domestic 
animals,  and  the  like. 

In  this  same  year  two  other  model  courses  of  instruction  were 
made  public;  one  for  the  lower  grades  and  one  for  high  schools,  the 
former  by  White,  of  the  Peoria  County  Normal,  and  the  latter  by 
Miss  Grace  Bibb,  of  the  Peoria  City  High  School,  afterwards  an 
instructor  in  the  University  of  Missouri.  In  White’s  lower  grade 
program  one  third  of  the  time  of  six-to  ten-year-pupils  was  given 
to  oral  object  lessons;  from  ten  to  thirteen  years,  one  sixth  of  the 
time  to  botany  and  physiology;  and  from  fourteen  to  sixteen  years, 
one  ninth  of  the  time  to  zoology  and  physics.  Two  and  a  half  years 
out  of  eleven  were  thus  given  to  natural  science, — in  a  ratio  dimin¬ 
ishing  towards  the  high  school.  How  different  this  from  the  com¬ 
mon  pretence  of  the  present  time  that  the  natural  sciences  are 


(«) 


higher  branches,  to  be  taught  in  the  high  school  only!  Miss  Bibb’s 
four  years’  English  high  school  course  gave  more  than  one  third  of 
the  time  to  physiology,  botany,  physics,  chemistry,  and  geology;  and 
her  mixed  course  more  than  one  fourth. 

Roberts,  of  Galesburg,  in  the  address  already  mentioned,  al¬ 
lotted  one  third  of  the  time  in  the  high  school  to  the  sciences  of 
nature. 

In  the  Peoria  High  School,  under  Coy,  in  1871,  collections 
were  made  by  the  pupils,  and  museum  cases  were  provided.  In 
the  Dixon  schools  the  directors  required,  in  that  year,  all  teach¬ 
ers  employed  by  them  at  the  time  and  all  candidates  for  positions 
there  to  pass  examinations  in  physics,  physiology,  and  botany,  be¬ 
sides  the  studies  required  by  law. 

I  consider  it  a  remarkable  fact  that  in  all  the  abundant  writing 
and  discussion  of  that  day,  I  do  not  find  anywhere  a  note  of  discord. 
There  was  no  opposition,  objection,  or  even  criticism  of  the  move¬ 
ment,  important  enough  to  show  itself  in  print. 

To  follow  out  this  process  of  the  growth  and  development  of 
opinion,  knowledge,  and  experience,  during  this  period  preceding 
the  passage  of  the  amended  law;  to  show  how  the  subject  attracted 
continually  greater  and  more  important  attention  in  the  teachers’ 
institutes  and  associations — county  and  state — in  the  gatherings  of 
principals  and  county  superintendents,  and  in  the  essays  and  ad¬ 
dresses  contributed  to  the  two  leading  educational  periodicals  of  the 
state — The  Illinois  Teacher  and  The  Chicago  Schoolmaster — would 
be  to  describe  point  by  point  the  gradual  dawning  of  the  day,  and 
would  leave  me  no  time  to  speak  of  the  interesting  effects  which 
followed  when  the  machinery  of  the  law  laid  hold  of  the  slowly  ris¬ 
ing  sun,  hauled  it  above  the  horizon  with  a  single  pull,  and  bade  it 
shine  there  in  full  blaze  without  further  loss  of  time.  Some  teachers 
were  greatly  rejoiced  at  this  miraculous  interposition  in  favor  of 
their  hopes  and  aspirations;  but  most  seemed  unmistakably  startled, 
and  evidently  began  to  think  that  it  was  likely  to  be  a  very  warm 
day.  “The  natural  sciences  are  upon  us,  and  we  must  do  the  best 
we  can,”  one  such  is  quoted  as  saying. 

That  the  law  was  a  surprise  to  most  of  the  teachers,  neither  ex¬ 
pected  nor  wished,  indeed,  at  the  time,  is  shown  especially  by  this  cir¬ 
cumstance:  The  original  bill  amending  the  school  law  of  the  state  (but 
without  the  science  clause,  which  was  an  afterthought)  had  been  in¬ 
troduced  in  the  previous  session  of  the  legislature,  but  not  finally 


acted  on;  and  a  copy  of  this  bill,  published  by  State  Superintendent 
Bateman,  was  widely  circulated  in  1871  among  the  leading  teachers  of 
the  state,  to  call  out  an  expression  of  their  opinion.  It  was  considered 
and  reported  upon  by  committees  of  the  State  Teachers’  Association, 
of  the  Principals’  Association,  and  of  the  County  Superintendents, 
and  important  amendments  were  made  to  bring  it  into  accord 
with  their  various  views;  but  neither  by  Dr.  Bateman  himself, 
nor  anywhere  in  the  published  correspondence  and  discussion, 
so  far  as  I  can  find,  was  any  mention  made  of  a  change  in 
the  requirement  for  the  teacher’s  certificate,  or  of  the  introduc¬ 
tion  of  new  studies  into  the  common  schools.  The  teachers  were 
working  toward  this  end  and  preparing  for  it,  but  they  were  not 
yet  ready.  This  thing  was  clearly  done  by  others,  over  their  heads, 
and  in  advance  of  their  wishes,  although  not  really  against  them. 
Let  us  note  especially  the  fact  that  the  motive  to  the  doing  was  not 
wholly  the  teachers’  motive.  The  beetle  that  drove  the  wedge  home 
and  struck  the  blow  that  split  the  log  was  really  the  practical ;  these 
subjects  were  added  to  the  public  school  course  because  it  was  hoped 
that  a  knowledge  of  them  would  help  the  people  to  live,  and  especially 
that  the  lot  of  the  countryman  and  of  the  workmen  in  towns  would 
be  ameliorated  if  they  knew  more  of  the  facts  and  laws  of  matter 
and  of  life.  And  while  this  is  clearly  true,  it  seems  also  true  that 
the  common  interest  in  the  matter  was  not  very  great.  It  was  an  indefi¬ 
nite  and  half-hesitating  sentiment,  a  diffuse  and  often  ignorant  incli¬ 
nation  to  believe,  ratherdian  a  positive  belief, which  was  made  effective 
for  the  purpose  it  accomplished  only  because  it  had  been  fanned  by 
agitation  and  focused  by  the  energetic  will  and  vigorous  intellect  of 
a  few  popular  leaders.  The  situation  was  thus  unusually  interesting; 
and  the  subject  is  a  fit  one  for  a  monograph.  I  can  only  briefly  de¬ 
scribe  what  followed. 

The  somewhat  inconsiderate  character  of  the  original  Flagg 
amendment  is  shown  by  the  fact  that,  as  introduced  and  as  it  passed 
the  Senate,  it  made  no  exception  to  the  requirement  that  every  teacher 
in  the  state  presenting  himself  for  a  state  or  county  certificate  must 
pass  an  examination  in  the  elements  of  the  natural  sciences.  A  proviso 
permitting  superintendents  to  issue,  at  the  request  of  directors,  cer¬ 
tificates  good  for  a  year  and  in  the  district  only,  to  teachers  other¬ 
wise  competent  but  not  prepared  for  science  teaching,  was  intro¬ 
duced  as  an  amendment  in  the  House  and  afterward  concurred  in  by 
the  Senate.  These  provisional  certificates  were,  however,  very 


naturally  regarded  as  a  makeshift  and  a  badge  of  disgrace,  a  pledge 
of  toleration  only,  and  to  the  mass  of  teachers  a  full  certificate 
seemed  immediately  indispensable.  They  were  not  content  to  take 
the  provisional  one  for  a  year,  and  in  the  meantime  to  make  ready 
for  a  genuine  examination,  but  they  must  have  a  full  certificate  be¬ 
fore  the  school  year  opened.  The  law  went  into  effect  July  i,  and 
the  schools  generally  began  in  September.  There  were  two  or  three 
months,  consequently,  in  which  to  learn  four  sciences,  and,  more 
than  that,  to  learn  to  teach  them;  so  county  institutes  had  a  boom — 
not  very  seriously  affected  by  the  fact  that  there  were  few  compe¬ 
tent  to  teach  the  new  branches  in  them.  The  State  Institute  at  Nor¬ 
mal  was  thronged;  and  there  all  the  sciences  were  taught,  each  forty- 
five  minutes  a  day  for  three  whole  weeks — about  eleven  hours  to  a 
science,  in  all.  The  pupils  were  also  advised  to  read  a  book,  if  pos¬ 
sible,  before  coming  to  this  institute. 

The  results  of  this  wild  work  were  not  always  perfect.  A  friend 
of  mine,  who  was  a  village  school  director  at  the  time,  has  lately  given 
me  an  illustration.  A  teacher  fresh  from  this  Normal  Institute  was 
conducting  an  exercise  in  zoology, while  the  director  sat,  book  in  hand, 
supervising  the  same.  The  teacher  read  from  his  Normal  note-book 
to  his  class  something  about  the  candal  appendage  of  an  animal. 
“  Isn’t  that  word  caudal ?”  modestly  asked  the  director.  “O,”  said 
the  startled  scientist,  “is  it  caudal  in  the  book?  ” 

It  need  not  be  said  that  the  “graduates”  from  these  “courses” 
usually  passed  their  county  examinations  and  got  the  coveted  full 
certificate.  For  the  makers  of  the  law  had  either  overlooked  one 
most  important  point,  or  else  had  made  a  curious  assumption.  The 
fact  was  recognized  that  the  teacher’s  qualification  must  be  tested  by 
an  examination,  but  no  one  was  set  to  examine  the  examiners.  It 
seems  to  have  been  assumed  that  the  county  superintendent  was 
necessarily  and  ex-officio  a  botanist,  a  zoologist,  a  physiologist,  and 
a  natural  philosopher;  and  that  he  was  also  a  teacher  of  all  the 
natural  sciences.  It  may  be  surmised  that  the  examinations  were 
not  usually  dangerous,  except,  possibly,  to  the  well  informed.  A  lady 
of  my  acquaintance  told  me  that  a  superintendent  asked  her  to 
which  class  the  turtle  belonged.  She  answered  that  it  was  a  crusta¬ 
cean,  because  it  had  a  crust — thinking  of  pie-crust,  probably,  with 
its  upper  and  lower  layers  and  the  filling  between.  “  No,”  said  the 
superintendent,  “  it’s  a  mollusk,  because  it  wears  a  shell.”  But  she 
got  her  certificate. 


(II) 


And  this  indiscriminate  scramble  for  the  counterfeit  present¬ 
ment  of  the  thing  desired,  was  unfortunately  not  confined  to  the 
vacation  work  of  1872.  I  regret  to  have  to  record  the  fact  that 
during  the  regular  sessions  of  the  Normal  School  a  special  class  was 
organized  of  would-be  science  teachers,  who  were  hustled  through 
all  the  new  branches  in  a  single  term.  This  was  done  with  many 
self-accusing  groans,  and  certainly  with  no  unworthy  motive,  but 
because,  all  things  considered,  in  the  abnormal  situation  which  had 
been  artificially  created,  it  seemed  to  those  responsible  the  part  of 
practical  wisdom  so  to  do. 

Similar  considerations  must  excuse  the  action  of  some  county 
superintendents,  who  made  haste  to  renew,  before  July  1,  all  certifi¬ 
cates  of  the  good  teachers  in  their  schools,  so  that  for  two  years 
these  might  be  at  least  nominally  qualified  for  any  situation.  The 
Schoolmaster  published  some  outline  lessons  in  botany  and  zoology, 
two  of  the  former  covering  about  three  pages  of  print,  the  latter 
more  elaborate,  and  then  assured  its  readers  that  an  eminent  botanist 
had  said  that  any  teacher  \Vho  had  learned  all  which  these  two  lessons 
contained  should  be  considered  entitled  to  the  certificate,  so  far  as 
botany  was  concerned;  and  the  editor  said  further  that  a  diljigent 
reader  of  the  journal  for  the  year  should  have  no  difficulty  in  pass¬ 
ing  all  the  natural  science  examinations.  Even  the  requirements  of 
the  state  superintendent’s  office  fell  far  short  of  an  ideal  standard  of 
proficiency.  An  elementary  knowledge  of  zoology,  to  take  an  ex¬ 
treme  example,  was  defined  to  embrace  the  chief  distinguishing 
characteristics  of  the  four  grand  divisions  of  the  animal  kingdom, 
a  general  knowledge  of  the  five  vertebrate  classes  and  their  princi¬ 
pal  orders,  and  some  special  acquaintance  with  insects  and  their 
chief  divisions. 

A  single  statement  from  the  ninth  superintendent’s  report  is 
eloquent  as  to  the  results.  During  the  three  months  after  July  1, 
1872,  3,975  teachers  were  examined  in  the  natural  sciences,  and 
3,114  passed. 

But  when  this  host  of  smatterers  had  been  safely  garnered  in  the 
schools,  and  the  worst  strain  of  the  sudden  pressure  had  been  thus 
relieved,  the  solid  and  enduring  work  of  thorough  preparation  be¬ 
gan,  or  rather  went  on  at  an  accelerated  pace. 

In  one  circular  after  another  Dr.  Bateman  conveyed  to  teachers 
and  school  officers  full  but  concise  official  directions,  mingled  with 
he  most  helpful  suggestion  and  intelligent  advice;  while  his  next 


biennial  report  went  like  a  trumpet  call  to  all  corners  of  the  state,  sum¬ 
moning  the  teachers  to  come  up,  like  an  army  that  had  suddenly 
won  an  almost  unlooked-for  victory,  and  occupy  in  force,  and 
once  for  all,  the  new  regions  which  had  fallen  under  their  control. 
The  seventy-five  pages  of  this  report  on  the  natural  sciences  in 
the  schools  deserve  to  become  a  classic.  It  is  a  discredit,  not  to 
Dr.  Bateman,  but  to  the  author  of  the  work,  that  the  name  of  the 
former  does  not  appear  in  “  Hall’s  Bibliography  of  Educational 
Literature.” 

Dr.  Gregory,  also,  regent  of  the  university,  who,  as  state  super¬ 
intendent  of  Michigan,  had  strongly  urged  ten  years  before  that  the 
time  for  the  old  studies  be  abridged  and  the  natural  sciences  be  in¬ 
troduced  beside  them,  contributed  by  lecture,  circular,  and  personal 
advice,  to  give  right  direction  to  the  rapid  onward  march;  while  the 
development  of  the  scientific  courses  in  the  growing  university 
helped  supply  the  greatest  need  of  the  time,  that  of  trained  and  in¬ 
telligent  science  teachers.  The  State  Normal  School  at  Normal 
continued  its  scientific  work  with  the  addition  of  a  term  of  zoology, 
and  with  a  great  improvement  in  its  methods  in  every  branch.  To 
it  was  also  due  the  continuance  of  the  Natural  History  Museum  as 
ah  independent  establishment,  after  the  death  of  the  State  Society 
and  the  departure  of  Powell,  Vasey,  and  others  from  the  state.  It 
contributed  from  its  funds  to  the  support  of  the  educational  work 
of  the  museum,  giving  it  shelter,  standing,  and  indorsement  in  the 
state  when,  practically  abandoned  by  its  founders,  it  had  little  else  to 
go  upon,  and  keeping  it  alive  until  an  opportunity  arose  to  get  for  it 
legal  recognition  as  a  separate  institution.  It  also  stood  behind  the 
two  summer  schools  of  natural  history  held  at  the  museum  in  1875 
and  1876;  schools  at  which  Professors  Wilder  and  Barnard  of  Cor¬ 
nell,  joined  with  Burrill  of  the  University,  Thomas  of  the  Southern 
Normal,  and  the  writer,  to  give  instruction  for  four  weeks  in  zoology 
and  botany  to  forty  or  fifty  active  and  enthusiastic  teachers.  A  greater 
supply  and  variety  of  marine  objects  for  dissection  were  had  at  these 
inland  schools  than  at  their  Penikese  predecessor.  From  this  mu¬ 
seum  (later  the  State  Laboratory  of  Natural  History)  large  sup¬ 
plies  of  specimens  were  sent  out,  and  at  the  Bloomington  meet¬ 
ing  of  the  State  Association  in  1873,  an  organization  of  schools 
and  colleges  was  formed  for  the  collection  and  exchange  of  natural 
history  material,  this  to  pass  through  the  museum  at  Normal  for 
determination,  preparation,  and  distribution.  This  work  was  kept  up, 


1 13 ) 


the  museum  duplicates  being  added  to  the  sets  sent  out,  until  all  the 
schools  participating  had  respectable  cabinets. 

The  educational  journals  of  1872  and  1873  were  very  largely 
given  up  to  a  discussion  of  science  teaching;  and  those  who  imag¬ 
ine  that  the  new  movement  went  astray  because  of  the  ignorance  of 
its  leaders,  will  do  well  to  look  at  the  volumes  of  The  Teacher  and 
The  Schoolmaster  for  those  years.  While  the  discussion  of  general 
principles  sometimes  lacked  scholarship,  it  was  nevertheless  sound  in 
the  main;  and  the  outlines  of  work  and  the  formal  lessons  presented 
and  the  courses  and  detailed  methods  recommended,  were  usually 
the  results  of  solid  thinking  and  successful  experience.  Another 
class  of  helpful  papers  published  at  this  time  consisted  of  hints  for 
self-help  in  field  work  and  study,  by  those  whose  own  experience  had 
taught  them  how  to  instruct  their  fellows.  In  fact,  all  the  educational 
institutions  and  associations  of  the  day  were  worked  at  full  speed, 
vacations  and  all,  to  bring  the  mass  of  the  teaching  body  up  to  the 
requirement  of  the  law.  So  a  great  impulse  was  given  to  honest 
and  earnest  work — there  is  no  doubt  of  that — and  the  science  move¬ 
ment  soon  gained  genuine  strength  and  impetus  enough  to  success¬ 
fully  endure  the  strain  of  the  reaction  which  inevitably  came  when 
the  slipshod  work  done  by  the  incompetent  began  to  bear  its  fruit. 
In  many  of  the  schools  presided  over  by  these  teachers  the  sciences 
went  out  of  the  window  almost  as  fast  as  they  came  in  by  the  door, 
— fortunately  for  such  schools,  because  such  teaching  as  these 
subjects  had,  could  result  at  best  only  in  an  irreparable  waste  of 
precio,us  time. 

But  time  forbids  my  following  the  subject  out  in  further  detail, 
and  I  can  only  hurriedly  sketch  the  present  situation.  In  the  first 
place,  the  sciences  are  hardly  in  the  rural  schools  at  all — those  for 
which  it  was  fondly  hoped  they  would  do  the  most.  This  is  partly  due 
to  a  change  in  the  law  itself,  made  in  1874,  chiefly  in  the  interest  of 
the  low-grade  teacher,  limiting  the  requirement  of  these  branches 
to  the  certificate  of  the  first  grade  only.  Most  of  the  country  teach¬ 
ers  hold  certificates  of  the  second  grade,  and  cannot  teach  the  sci¬ 
ences  if  they  would.  We  have  to  reckon  also  with  popular  ignorance 
and  with  a  sluggish  public  sentiment  with  regard  to  any  aspect  of 
the  matter  save  the  financial  one.  Among  the  better  informed  there 
is  some  uneasiness  on  this  subject,  and  you  can  get  a  vote  at  any  gen¬ 
eral  country  gathering  favorable  to  the  teaching  of  these  branches  in 
the  country  schools,  if  you  ask  for  it,  and  because  you  ask  for  it, 


unless,  indeed,  it  occurs  to  some  one  that  this  would  raise  the  teach¬ 
ers’  wages,  and  then  you  will  probably  have  to  fight  for  what  you 
get.  The  sciences  are  not  there,  in  short,  because  the  country  teach¬ 
ers  cannot  teach  them,  and  because  the  average  rural  tax -payer  does 
not  care  enough  for  them  to  be  willing  to  pay  their  present  cost.  In 
the  cities  and  villages  of  the  better  class,  the  elements  of  these 
branches  seeem  pretty  firmly  fixed  in  the  high  school  course,  but 
it  is  only  the  elements,  and  the  work  actually  done  belongs,  usu¬ 
ally,  in  the  grammar  school  or  still  lower  down.  In  now  and  then  a 
town  or  city  school,  as  at  Aurora,  Decatur,  and  Cairo,  there  is  a 
graded  and  well-knit  science  course  throughout.  I  have  some  statis¬ 
tics  on  these  matters  which  there  is  not  time  to  give. 

As  to  methods,  they  evidently  differ  widely.  The  lineal  descend¬ 
ant  and  successor  of  the  teacher  who  got  his  science  in  three  weeks 
is  still  to  be  found  in  the  school  room,  and  he  may  teach  from  the 
book  alone,  but  even  he  knows  better  as  a  rule;  and  where  there  is 
time  and  talent  for  the  work,  the  teaching  is  often  excellent.  The 
right  general  ideas  are  common  property,  but  they  lack  fullness  and 
detail — in  short,  scholarship;  and  have  not  been  worked  out  in  sys¬ 
tematic,  well-knit,  correlated  methods  and  courses,  adapted  to  the 
country  school,  and  to  the  various  grades  in  city  and  town.  The 
motive  to  the  work  seems  now  almost  wholly  pedagogical  and  its 
economic  basis  has  chiefly  fallen  away.  This  is  partly  due,  I  think, 
to  that  sluggishness  of  popular  interest  already  spoken  of,  and  partly 
to  the  fact  that  the  actual  work  of  the  school  has  not  commonly 
been  directed  to  the  economic  end,  and  so  the  utilitarian  results 
hoped  for  have  not  followed.  The  professional  feeling  of  the  teacher 
has  sometimes  kept  him  from  this,  and  often  he  simply  has  not  known 
how. 

All  this  has,  perhaps,  a  discouraging  sound,  as  a  report  of  pro¬ 
gress  after  seventeen  years,  and  yet  it  offers  us  this  very  great  en¬ 
couragement.  The  whole  matter  is  now  practically  in  the  teachers’ 
hands;  and  we  are  vastly  better  prepared  in  every  way  to  meet  the 
difficulties,  to  solve  the  problems,  to  apply  and  develop  methods,  to 
arouse  the  public  interest,  and  to  justify  our  work  by  its  results,  than 
we  were  in  1872.  Let  us  natural  science  teachers  band  ourselves 
together,  ground  ourselves  and  each  other,  so  far  as  we  have  not 
already  done  so,  in  a  sound  pedagogy  based  on  a  sound  psychology; 
study  the  methods  of  foreign  lands,  where  our  subjects  have  been 
longer  taught  than  here;  agree,  if  possible,  on  courses  and  methods 


for  the  country  schools'  and  for  each  class  of  the  graded  school; 
examine  and  report  upon  the  science  work  in  our  various  towns,  in 
our  counties,  and  in  our  congressional  districts;  publish  as  fast  as 
we  are  sure  that  our  work  is  good  and  sound  and  true,  and  not  be¬ 
fore;  and  so  lay  together  and  build  up,  from  year  to  year,  by  the 
method  of  cooperative  effort,  a  solidly-based  and  well-wrought 
scheme  of  science  work  for  the  public  schools  of  Illinois. 


